The production of ring laser gyroscopes, as currently practiced, has involved the use of frame blanks made from glass-ceramics. Extensive machining of those frames (drilling gain bores, wells, anode and cathode ports, and fill holes to provide an optical gyroscope support containing internal channels for helium-neon gas encapsulation, and optically finishing edges for prism and mirror attachments) is quite apparently a very expensive and time consuming practice.
Therefore, the primary objective of the present invention was to design a method for producing such frames wherein the drilling would be eliminated and finishing would be limited to the optically contacted surfaces.